By James Smedley

With canoes lashed below the fuselage of two DeHaviland Beavers, we pair off and board the venerable bush planes. A light chop skims beneath as the weight of packs and passengers is transferred from floats to wings. With altitude the pilot throttles back and banks north. The community of Armstrong, the Canadian National Rail Line and capillaries of logging roads disappear into the distance. Twisting wetland creeks and ponds sprawl across a ragged canopy of dark green jackpine, peppered with island-studded lakes. Rocky shoals betrayed by light brown hues loom beneath a film of darkly stained water. Long black incisions cut through the rolling boreal landscape, punctuated by crystalline spray glistening from the sharp granite graduations of falls and rapids.

The aircraft is the only capsule of civilization. I gaze through opaque windows at the immense wilderness of Wabakimi Provincial Park. At 900,000 hectares it’s more than one-and-a-half times the size of Prince Edward Island. The park is sanctuary to woodland caribou, aboriginal settlements and pictographs and land forms reflecting a rich glacial history. But what is strongly reinforced from the air is the potential for paddlers; interconnected water systems stretch in every direction, part of thousands of kilometres of canoe routes. And if those paddlers are inflicted with the need to angle, like the four of us ogling from the window of the Beaver, paradise would be hard-pressed to top Wabakimi.

The pilots inspect the reef-strewn waters before landing in a sheltered bay at the east end of Little Wabakimi Lake. Within minutes we step from the floats into loaded canoes. Pilots check that we know where we are before taking off. The drone of aircraft is gradually displaced by the sound of rushing water as we head to the outlet of a small river system for the first of five days in Wabakimi.

Partner Mike Cotteril is a physician, Neil Simpson and Claude Camirand are both social workers. I figure we are covered in the event of physical or mental break down, but so far there is little to complain about. It’s mid-September and hot enough for shorts and tee-shirts as the first section of fast-water delivers us to the swirling eddies of a deep pool. A flurry of swift, fluid movements and fishing gear emerges from canoe packs. A shower of plastic-tipped jigs rains down on the pool producing the first pike, walleye and snags of the trip. 

The river continues between huge boulders and steep walls of smooth, gray granite. Bright sunlight penetrates the stained water but thick walleye to three pounds emerge from fast flowing narrows and current breaks. Short portages usher us quickly past falls and rapids only to be detained by the inevitable walleye-swollen pool at their base. But good fishing was expected. This huge chunk of roadless wilderness was a legendary fishing area long before it was a park. Today most visitors fly-in to one of seven main-base lodges or 40 outpost camps operating within the park. Sounds crowded but Wabakimi starts west of Lake Nipigon and stretches north to the Albany River, soaking up excess people in an expansive sponge of boreal fabric. While September is a quiet time of year, the level of solitude is surprising; we see one other canoe, the odd boat cache and once we hear an outboard motor in the distance. But the sounds associated with logging, hydro development and mining will never permeate the depths of Wabakimi.

In the late 1970’s logging companies were eyeing the wilderness north of Nipigon. The Ministry of Natural Resources’ Parks Branch also recognized the land’s value, but as a park. That’s when Bruce Hyer, a wilderness canoe outfitter based along the CN rail line west of Armstrong, began to lobby for the protection of what was known as the Ogoki-Albany wilderness. Hyer’s efforts helped put the area on the map for the general public and garnered support from environmental organizations. Area tourist outfitters came on side too, preferring a park to clear cuts and roads. In 1983 a “postage stamp” park was created. “Tiny, but it was a start.” says Hyer. In 1992 the Wabakimi Park Boundary Committee was established to address the concern that the park was too small to represent and protect the values and features of the region. The result was the official expansion of Wabakimi in 1997 to almost six times it’s original size, creating one of the largest protected boreal forest reserves in the world. The new park is the second largest in the Province and adjoins three provincial waterway parks: the Brightsand River to the Southwest, Kopka River on the south east and the Albany River to the north.

Choosing a five-day trip through an area offering more than 2,000 km of canoe routes is mind boggling. To help plan our excursion we contacted Bruce Hyer. With Wabakimi destined to remain wilderness, Hyer is expanding WildWaters Nature Tours and Expeditions, his Armstrong-based canoe outfitting business. WildWaters is just one of a growing number of outfitters in the community of 600 offering everything from  fly-in service to lodges and outpost camps to full canoe trip outfitting. We presented Hyer with a tall order: lake and river travel with some rapids, a few caribou, fewer people, and lots of fish. While there are several access points along the CN line and even a few roads penetrating the south end of the park, float plane is the only way to reach the core of Wabakimi quickly. Hyer arranged a flight and we met at his Armstrong base where he pencilled in rapids, falls, portages and a few fishing holes on our maps. 

So far Hyer’s advice has been right on. Our headway downstream is slowed by pools and fish. By the time we portage the last drop into Smoothwater Lake we’re looking for a place to camp along a narrow, island-dappled inlet. Although paddling against fading daylight, Neil Simpson can’t resist trolling a crankbait and we’re further delayed in trying to free a snag. When the snag starts to move we brace ourselves for battle. After 15 minutes of towing our canoe, a huge, tired pike surfaces. We pull into shore to land, photograph and release the great fish which Simpson says weighs more than his four year old daughter.  

We set up camp within earshot of the falls amidst thick moss and pine. Even after dark it’s still very hot and we slip into the cold water from a gently sloping rock ledge. While Neil and Mike linger in the cooling depths oblivious to danger, Claude and I are in and out quickly, prompted by thoughts of enormous pike plying the dark water.

The weather remains unseasonably hot over the next few days as we make our way from Smoothrock Lake to the Ogoki River and our final destination and pick-up point at Whitewater Lake. The terrain ranges from flat, sandy wetlands to low hills that occasionally erupt into steep promontories or shoreline cliff faces. The honk of huge flocks of geese competes with the sound of rushing water. The silent flight of bald eagles cast long shadows over bluffs of pine-topped granite. We hear the nasal laments of woodland caribou hiding on clusters of islands. One of the shy animals, a male with a huge rack, emerges from the forest on the opposite bank to watch as we scout a rapid of the Ogoki River.

Accompanying the beauty of land and water is superb fishing. Although more difficult to pinpoint fish in lakes, casts over shoals, through narrows and off rocky points means stretching our hands around the backs of thick green and orange walleye. In rivers, almost every pool adjacent to fast-water coughs up walleye hovering around the 20 inch mark. Where shorelines converge to squeeze a river through narrows, hoards of walleye work the current to snap at jigs before they sink to the bottom. At one such spot triple headers are common and walleye top four pounds. Pike from two to over 20 pounds are just about everywhere - especially patrolling shallow pools at the base of rapids or near the surface of rocky bays and inlets.

Heavy jigs, 3/8 ounce or better work best in current. Three to four inch plastic tails of just about any shape in white, chartreuse, smoke and pumpkinseed are all that’s needed. We brought a supply of worms to sweeten the offering but never used them. Even jigging spoons through deep holes took walleye. In retrospect I should have brought crankbaits. Neil Simpson had a few squirreled away that took quantities of pike and walleye, including the largest of each species. The 3 to 6 inch minnow baits were especially deadly in rivers where moderate current flows over long, shallow  boulder-bottomed runs - as Simpson would demonstrate at every opportunity.

Beside parks like Algonquin or Quetico, Wabakimi is remote and virtually unknown. But with world class canoe routes ranging from whitewater to tranquil lakes and rivers, Wabakimi will take it’s place as a top paddling destination. As for fishing, the Provincial park envelops legendary lake and river systems; names like Ogoki, Smoothrock and Whitewater have a long history of remote tourism. The original park is designated as ‘wilderness’ and the expansion area will be classified through an ongoing management planning process, says Superintendent John McGrath. While this will mean new regulations for fly-in lodges and outposts using Wabakimi, McGrath says most operators will continue to function as always within the park, but without the spectre of logging, mining or hydro development.  

The vast and rich area Northwest of Lake Nipigon is responsible for thousands of enduring outdoor memories and as Wabakimi Provincial park she is destined to produce thousands more. I often drift back to a deep pool on a tributary of the Ogoki River. We’re trying to cull a stringer of eaters from a dizzying procession of two and three pounders. By the time I filet half a dozen pan-size fish, the sun is sinking below the fragrant cedars that rim our campsite. Though cloaked in darkness the sound of a boiling rapid finds its part in a harmony of crackling fire and sizzling walleye. With arms as tired from reeling as much as paddling we nourish ourselves with the bounty of the land, a scoop of rice, and a healthy dose of respect and admiration on the side. It’s one of those meals impossible to duplicate, one I revisit often in daydreams.

PERMITS AND FEES

Permits for collecting backcounty camping fees will be available with most outfitters this spring. Residents 18 years and over will pay $6 per night, children pay $3. Non-residents 18 and over pay $10 per night, children $4.

Non-residents who use a Canadian outfitter pay resident rate.

MAPS

For trip planning the following 1:250,000 scale maps cover the entire park:

Armstrong 52-I 

Miminiska Lake 52-P

Sioux Lookout 52-J

The appropriate 1:50,000 scale topographic maps should be purchased to cover your entire route. Many of the more travelled routes like the Allanwater, Flindt, Lookout, Pikitigushi and Ogoki Rivers are detailed in a series of 8x11 ‘section sheets’ showing rapids, portages and portage lengths, available from the Armstrong Resource Development Corporation.  

ARMSTRONG

Savant Lake, Sioux Lookout, Pickle Lake and other Northwestern Ontario communities have outfitters using Wabakimi, but the town of Armstrong is the base for most.

With the neigbouring community of Whitesand First Nations Armstrong has a population of about 600. There are two motel/hotels, a Bed and Breakfast and rental cabins. The general store sells groceries, beer and liqour. There is a bank, a medical clinic and air ambulance service. The closest hospital and major shopping centre is at Thunder Bay, 250 km south. 

TRAIN

VIA Rail carry passengers and canoes up to 18 ft. along the Canadian National Railway line. Most common drop-off/pick-up points are Collins and Allanwater Bridge - 90 km from Armstrong - but train will stop anywhere along the line. Departs from Armstrong Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 8:25 am. Via requires 48 notice for pick-up. Armstrong to Allanwater is $14.98 for one adult ticket and up to $35.00 for one canoe. Call VIA at 1 800 561 8630

TOURISM ASSOCIATIONS

North of Superior Tourism

1119 E. Victoria Ave.

Thunder Bay, Ontario

P7C 1B7

1 800 265 3951

(807) 6626 9420/9421

nosta@microage-tb.com

www.nosta.on.ca

Lake Superior First Nations Developemt Trust

2 South Court St.

Thunder Bay, Ontario

P7B 2W3

(807) 344 5556

Patricia Regional Tourist Council

Box 66

Dryden, Ontario

P8N 2Y7

1 800 465 7101

prtc@moosenet.net

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Ontario Parks, Northwest Zone

Suite 221, 435 James St. S.

Thunder Bay, Ontario

P7E 6S8

ph (807) 475 1634

fx (807) 475 1499

Ministry of Natural Resources

Thunder Bay District

435 James St. S.

Suite B001

Thunder Bay, Ontario

P7E 6S8

ph (807) 475 1471

fx (807) 475 1527

Armstrong Resource Development Corporation

Box 2000

Armstrong, Ontario

POT 1AO

ph (807) 583 2080

fx (807) 583 2517